years he would hit a taur get of 2% inflation. they all have reason to be upbeat. government officials just showed data that they went up in june by 3.3%. the consumer price index has been rising for 13 months. policymakers at the central bank say the increase in the asuchlgts tax is partly responsible. now, let's get an update on how investors are reacting to those numbers. the tokyo c.p.i. numbers which investors watch very closely actually came up sliegtly above fo.

let's have a look at how the nikkei and the topics are reacti. there's also lingering caution over geopolitical events which have caused safer assets, such as the yen and the japanese currency had been holding stronger a having said that, markets may take some cheer from cannon. the company says it also cut its annual sales outlook. i'll keep track of that.

the weekly job lets claims came in. dollar yen 1501.77-79. economic activity picked up in july. data showed it rose at a fastst pace in 18 months. and the emerging market index, a potential negative, if you will, for investors, is the latest report for the imf, international monetary fund. i know you're going to go into

more detail rngs but one interesting report is that lower interest rates may be required for some time, yet, until demand picks up. they're watching that very closely. we'll see if that continues. >> sounds good. we'll check in with you in a few hours. now, let me tell you a little bit more about that imf repo. analysts there make a prediction every few months. their prediction for 2014 back in april was 3% 7%. now they're saying it will be 3.4%. they blame slowing economies in the u.s. and in russia: >> they downgraded their forecast for the u.s. by more than one percentage point to

1.7%. they downgraded their forecast for russia by the same percentage point now they expect the economy to grow. they did revise its projection upwards. the fund sites strong consumer demand ahead of the construction tax hike in apri due to further tensions in the ukraine and middle east. a shift in future policy might integrate the risk.

>> on wednesday, they issued a recall to comet to a total of almost $29 million. now, they've taken a toll on their second quarter profits. they say the cost of repairs and compensation has come to more than $1.1 billion. but they have some good news for investo invest 2.2 million worldwide. up 2% from last year.

that's the latest in business. i'll leave you with a check on mark lost contact with an air alg passenger flight the capital of the

nation of burkina faso ouagadougou to alg. airlines went mis the country of m they say the jet c to avoid a p another plane in bad weath the plane disappeared from r 50 minutes early time. the airliner is reported to be carrying 110 pas crew members. the air algerie aircraft is a mcdonnell-douglas md-83. burkina faso's transport minister is scrambling to find he announced the nationalities of the 116 people on board the missing air algerie flight. ap news agency reported on thursday that jean bertong wedrago said the plane was carrying people from 15 countries. the manifest includes 51 french nationals, 27 from burkina faso, eight lebanese, six algerians, five canadians, four germans, and two luxembourg citizens. there is one person each from switzerland, belgium, egypt, ukraine, nigeria, cameroon and mali. all six crew members are from spain. the plane may have crashed in mali. >> translator: despite intensive search efforts, no trace of the aircraft has been found.

the plane probably crashed around gao in northern mali. >> two reconnaissance planes from a military base in neighboring niger will join in the search. france president, francois hollande, says his thoughts were with the families of those on board and everything will be done to find the plane.

police officers from australia will soon be heading to eastern ukraine. they'll help with the investigation into of the malaysian airli killed in the crash. >> we are ready to deploy au help secure th an international team under united nations authority. >> prime minister abbott said pro-russian separatists have prevented a thorough search of the crash site. he said 50 australian police officers are preparing for their mission. all 298 people on malaysia airlines fli lastwh shot down. but international experts assessing the remains say they've only counted about 200 bodies. they say some could remain at the crash site.

>> i'm so scared about the news. i'm so sad. i feel like i want to cry. i thought if my parents are over there, i don't know what t >> we are still waiting for the exact news. whatever, i know it is god's fate.

>> the team still does not have full access to the crash site. norwegian security authorities say people with connec in syria may be plotti atta it remains unclear where sort oou information received from foreign authorities as reliable. train stations. taiwanese investigators are >> his nood creations are from those who lost their sense of taste.

hi's giving some who live inside hospitals their strength back. >>. >> reporter: a sampl sweet potato ice cream. they've called these meals care food. >> i love it. it's twice as tasty as ordinary okra. it has a fresh, tomato taste. i asked for a second bowl right away. by enhancing pictures and presentation of the food.

he's been running a restaurant for more than 20 years. whenever he gets an idea, he makes a sample: >> i always try to come up with something patients would like to i get my ideas from the french cuisine. >> he came up with medical expert to include care food. he's created more than 100 recipes. they've published them on line. this is a patient who has come to aappreciabluate those recipes. she had her second surgery for breast cancer five years ago. the drugs she had to take destroyed her pleasure in food.

>> i tried to eat, but i didn't have any appetite while being on the drugs. not being able to eat was really hard >> three years ago, she got cancer again. this time, in her lungs. then she discovered care food. she needs to look after her 99-year-old mother. she said that care food is very helpful. not only for herself, but also for her mother. miagi say the pleasure she gets from eating is helping her recover. being able to eat helps keep me motivated to live. i think other patients, too. it's the bhigest kind of encouragement for patients. >> yamagucci is designing

careful recipes. >> it's smooth. easy to eat. >> i want to make them feel positive about life. and i can do that with food. i'm thrilled when they tell me their meal was good. >> that's the response that keeps him working hard in the kitchen. welcome to "newsline." it's friday, july 25th. that's the encouragement they get from their past recovery. a post office on a small island in japan has a service unlike any other. it sense postcards sent to

unknown destinations, or even to those who are missing. >> reporter: awashima lies in the quiet waters of the seito inland sea. this half-century-old building used to serve as the post office. it closed down 23 years ago. but today, the mailman is back. the post office is expe a very spe these po people seeking solace or courage. since opening in october of last year, the missing post office, as it's called, has received more than 2,000 postcards from around japan. the postmaster is 80-year-old katsahita nakata. nakata used to run the original office. after his retirement, he acquired the building, with the

aim of preserving it. last year, a visiting artist convinced him to embark on this new adventure. the postcards are on display in a small gallery. twice a month, visitors can come to read them. >> we preserve them with great care. >> reporter: in some cases, the simple act of writing can provide relief from complex emotions. >> translator: dear shin, it's been almost three years since you went missing. i was devastated to hear you were taken by the tsunami while

driving your delivery truck. >> reporter: the author of these lines is yoshinori ouchi from northeastern japan. >> translator: we were such good buddies. we visited each other and played baseball together. we had so much fun, didn't we? i think about you every time i drive past your place, but i never stop, because i can't sort out my feelings. >> reporter: the intended recipient is shinichi saijo. he worked for a seafood processing company. his truck was swallowed by the tsunami of march 11, 2011. >> translator: at first, i thought it was a bad joke. i told myself it was a pack of lies. i just couldn't believe it. >> reporter: when he learned about the missing post office, he decided to put together all the feelings that had remained unsaid. it took him two days to complete the message.

>> translator: shin, i want you to know that you remain my true friend. may this message find its way over to you. writing this letter helped me sort out the unbearable emotions that had accumulated inside me. now, i think i may be able to start moving on. >> reporter: every day brings a new load of special postcards, messages to someone, somewhere, or simply to eternity. the great tsunami of march 2011 did extensive damage to hundreds of kilometers of coastal line in northeastern japan.

time now for a check of the weather with mai. people in easter dealing with severe we conditio what's the latest? >> yeah, certainly right, catherine. good morning. we are still tracking that storm system which used to be once a typhoon, which slammed taiwan. now, it's linger china in and around the province bringing stormy conditions here. winds still packing 90 kilometers per hour. it has downgraded to a tropical storm and will continue downgraded its intensity and becomes tropical depression in the near future, possibly making another landfall as a tropical depression system in the peninsula, but looks like it's

more of the rainfall we are considering due to the enhancement of the frontal line that's sitting here through the korean peninsula. north korea will see about 300 millimeters of rainfall on top of the well-saturated land in and around seoul. urban flooding will be the key for. this the system is feeding the moisture toward the philippines as well as the indochina peninsula. more rain to come. you can see that really big patch of pink blob moving into japan, northern locations of japan, possibly see lots of rainfall in and around the weekend. but the main topic near japan is the high-pressure system dominating much of the country now and bringing real extreme heat. yesterday, temperatures soared

into the high 30s, much as the western locations saw 37 degrees. tokyo saw 37.6, the hottest we have seen so far and the conditions will be prevailing. i'm afraid it's going to be really hot throughout the weekend. so, if you do have any outdoor plans, well, you may want to move it to the morning and evening hours, try to arrange things when temperatures are cooler. things are really hot across much of eastern continental asia, ulan bator reaching 30 degrees. across the americas, we have some video to show you about the severe condition t slamming the eastern seaboards. take a look at this. this is from virginia. a severe storm rolled through a campground in virginia thursday afternoon, killing three, leaving five injured. initial data from the national weather service indicates a tornado. motor homes can be easily

damaged in severe weather and one of the last place you want to be actually during a tornado warning. the same storm also brought large hail throughout other parts of the state. and i'm afraid that you still see these cloud cover hugging the eastern seaboards. now it's in and around nor carolina, where flood warning is in place, so, lots of rain to be found here and temperature drops as well as thunderstorms that will be prevailing in the southeastern locations as well. we have another system that is providing thunderstorms across western canada, but not a lot of precipitation in sight, maybe a little bit around here, but fire warning is in place, red flag warnings and critical fire weather and the temperatures are soaring in take a look at t even oklah of the u.s this extreme sum i will extended forecas

and that's all for this edition of "news around that's line."

maybe you have some energy- saving appliances, like an energy star-rated washer and dryer. but what about your tv? chances are it's on more than your washer, dryer, and kitchen appliances combined. did you know that if half of us in the u.s. replaced our regular tvs with an energy star model, the change would be like shutting down a power plant? you can find the energy star on everything from standard to high def to the largest flat-screen your heart desires. ow that makes sense. ow that makes sense.

new prime minister is getting down to work at home and abroad. and reporters target a state-owned bank. they work for state-owned media. what's the catch? hello. you're watching "asia biz forecast." i'm yuko fukushima. india's prime minister, narendra modi, has called for a change in the way that the world does business. he says billions of people are getting a taste of a new life but he says more needs to be